National black arts festival

Dragonfly Theatre to stage award-winning British play
Following the success of its previous plays like The Little Prince and Dangerous Liaisons, Dragonfly Theatre presents the award winning Blue/Orange by Joe Penhall.
It is about a young black patient in a psychiatric hospital and his two doctors who argue about whether he is sane enough to be sent back into society.
Along the way, it asks the question, "what is sanity?" The play turns the spotlight on racial prejudice and how we take care of those with mental illnesses.
The play won the Laurence Olivier Award in the UK in 2001 and has been adapted into a film by the BBC.
It will feature Dragonfly's lead actor Aaron Toronto and newcomers Ryan Burkwood and Peter Muruako.
Both the latter two are classically trained actors from the UK theatre scene and have performed in several shows in London's West End.
Blue/Orange will be performed at the Cargo Bar, 7 Nguyen Tat Thanh, District 4, three nights from May 16-18.
ASEAN Ministers of … [Read more...] about Art & Entertainment News Headlines 18/4

Exhibit features photographs on the art of dancing
More than 100 of this year's best photographs on the art of dancing are currently on display at an exhibit in the capital city that runs until September 14.
The photographs, on display at Exhibition House on 29 Hang Bai Street, were selected from more than 500 entries of photographers from here, as well as the northern provinces of Son La and the Thai Nguyen and southern province of Bac Lieu, who competed in the Second "Dance of Life" Festival.
The entries in the festival, which the Ha Noi Dancers' Association and Ha Noi Photographers' Association organised, consist of dancers' portraits, as well as high moments in the professional and public performances of ballet, contemporary and folk dance and other types of dancing.
Festival of traditional culture to take place in Da Lat
A festival showcasing traditional costumes and presenting traditional cultural features will be organised in Da Lat City from October 31 to November … [Read more...] about Art & Entertainment News 6/9

Artwork exhibition focuses on sea and naval forces
Forty works of sculpture, paintings, graphics and photography, featuring the sea and navy soldiers are on display in Ha Noi to celebrate the Viet Nam People's Navy Force's 60th anniversary.
Twenty-eight lecturers of the Viet Nam Fine Arts University are participating in the exhibition, entitled Bien, Dao To Quoc va Nguoi Chien Sy Hai Quan (Country's Sea, Islands and Navy Soldiers), to express their love for the sea and islands and admiration for navy sailors, through various materials such as oil-on-canvas, acrylic, natural colours and water colours, as well as metal composites and mixed materials.
"The artworks not only depict many beautiful and vivid images of the sea, islands and navy soldiers, but also show the artists' love, responsibilities and belief in the force," Colonel Mai Trong Dinh, an official from the force, said. "The artists have focused on the life and feelings of the sailors working in Truong Sa (Spratly) … [Read more...] about Art & Entertainment News 7/5

The Hanoitimes - More than 100 magicians from 13 art troupes across the country will take part in the second National Professional Magic Festival to be held at the National Circus Theatre o­n December 29. The participants will compete at four categories including white magic, black magic, magic tricks with props and magic tricks without props. The three-day festival will offer an opportunity for magicians to exchange their experiences and improve their performance skills. The festival will also help managers find talented artists, assess the current status of magicians in Vietnam and work out training plans for magic artists to further promote the development of the art of magic in integration trend. The second National Professional Magic Festival is organised by the Vietnam Stage Artists’ Association. The first festival was held in 2008. VHO … [Read more...] about Hanoi to host national professional magic festival

A video-installation titled Green Earth has won first prize for artist Le Tran Hau Anh at the Viet Nam National Youth Fine Arts Festival.
Anh received the prize yesterday at Ha Noi’s Viet Nam Centre of Culture and Fine Arts. The installation involved screening his video on a sphere hanging in a black room.
The sphere and the room are covered with blue paper surrounded by stars which represent the sky and the earth.
Two windows in the room allow viewers to see vivid scenes in the sphere showing the effects of global warming.
“I want to remind the viewers about global climate change. I want to send a message that we have to respect and protect our home,” Anh said.
Anh said he was not just happy with the prize, but with creating a successful, interactive work of art.
“I’ve put many paper stars next to the installation for viewers to stick on the installation as stars, and one boy who stuck one on asked me if his star was real, it’s having a … [Read more...] about Youth arts fest honours ‘Earth’